Visually exuberant, thematically bold and relentlessly graphic, this second installment in von Trier’s erotic opus about a woman’s sexual coming-of-age, and coming-undone, goes deeper and darker than “Volume I.” “Volume II” explores the consequences of Joe’s (Gainsbourg) loss of sexual sensation — in spite of the persistence of her bedroom appetites — her fallout with lover Jerome (Shia LaBeouf) and her strange S&M relationship with an unassuming but dangerous man played by Jamie Bell.

And while it isn’t von Trier’s best film, it’s certainly his most unshackled, arriving two years after his infamous and sorely misunderstood remarks at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Here’s our review of “Volume I,” out now on VOD and in theaters this Friday, and our review of “Volume II,” in theaters April 4 and on VOD this Friday.